Brazil and Bolivia envision joint investment for the second Urea Plant

This YPFB release was published using machine translation.

La Paz, Oct 25 (AN/YPFB).- Bolivia and Brazil envision joint investments, through YPFB and Petrobras, for the construction of the second Ammonia and Urea Plant, a factory that will require a cost of USD 2.5 billion, whose location He settled on Puerto Quijarro, a border town between both countries. It will have a production capacity of 4,200 tons (t); that is, double the production of the Bulo Bulo petrochemical complex.

The National Vice President of Operations (VPNO) of the state oil company, Luciano Montellano Abasto, said that there is interest from both parties in making a shared investment with the perspective of executing the second factory.

"In the case of the Urea Plant it is a very large, massive investment, very preliminarily we are talking about an estimated value of more or less 2.5 billion dollars in which, through a partnership, it will surely be get both parties to contribute part of the financing.”

Montellano added that the neighboring country is interested in the project. “At the (binational) meeting, Petrobras was presented with the general details of the project: location, scope and production capacity. They have been expressed the openness that YPFB has in an association for a joint investment, by virtue of which Petrobras has expressed its interest in this regard.”

CONSUMPTION

According to official information, Brazil consumed approximately 8 million tons of urea per year in 2011, currently it has increased to 12 million tons. It is one of the largest consumers of Bolivian urea, to whom 80% of the production that comes from the Ammonia and Urea Plant located in Bulo Bulo, Cochabamba is sold.

90% of their urea consumption is imported, whose suppliers are located on the other side of the planet, this is the case of Russia, an aspect that puts them in a somewhat critical situation due to the importance that fertilizer has in the agricultural sector of the neighboring country.

"So we are talking about annual income that ranges from 500 to 600 million dollars only for a second plant, if this is realized and we serve it, we would have to add the income that we generate from exporting to Brazil and with the current plant that is around 200 and 380 million dollars annually,” said the executive of the state oil company.